Legislative hearing features discussion of state control of Paterson schools

By JOE MALINCONICO

Paterson Press

PATERSON – A statewide advocacy group on Monday called for an overhaul of the system the New Jersey Education department uses to evaluate Paterson Public Schools and other three other urban districts under state control.

During a legislative hearing in Trenton, the Newark-based Education Law Center asserted that the Christie administration has tried to use the state-controlled districts to advance the governor’s agenda by increasing the number of charter schools, instituting merit pay, and closing and selling schools.

“Takeover was intended for the State to work cooperatively with districts to bring about improvements in basic operations, including personnel and governance,” said David Sciarra, the law center’s executive director.

“Our proposed amendments will restore this core mission and put an end to Governor Christie's improper use of State takeover to promote his own education agenda by maintaining control indefinitely,” Sciarra added. “After more than two decades in Jersey City and Paterson and almost 20 years in Newark, it’s time to put in place an expedited exit strategy."

The hearing comes as Paterson awaits the results from last month’s state review of the district, the most recent in the process known as QSAC, or the Quality Single Accountability System, the statewide system to evaluate all local school districts.

Local officials are hoping the district performed well enough for them to regain local control in at least some of the five areas evaluated by the state – governance, fiscal management, personnel, operations, and curriculum and instruction. Some previous state reviews initially produced scores that Paterson officials through would be high enough for limited local control, but the scores were lowered after they were reevaluated.

“We agree that the current system is flawed and lacks true oversight and accountability,” said Paterson Board of Education President Christopher Irving.

Rosie Grant, the head of the Paterson Education Fund advocacy group, said the QSAC process provided too much discretion to the State Commissioner of Education. “We’ve been under state control for all these years but there’s no clear process for us to get out of it,” she said.

The Newark and Paterson school boards had tried to challenge the state’s education department’s QSAC rulings in recent years. But an appellate court last year ruled in the state’s favor in the Newark lawsuit and the Paterson appeal was scrapped as well. Jersey City and Camden are the other cities where local schools are controlled by the state.

When asked about the law center’s proposal for changes in the system of state control, New Jersey Education Department spokeswoman Michael Yaple declined to discuss the group’s proposals for changing the law.

“There’s general consensus that the Department of Education has really improved and streamlined the QSAC school-monitoring process in recent years,” Yaple said. “For instance, we cut the number of indicators monitored by the state from 350 to 52. As the process evolves, we look forward to working with legislators as we explore other ways to improve the school-monitoring process.”

Paterson’s state-appointed schools superintendent, Donnie Evans, testified during the hearing. In speaking to the legislators, Evans expressed his support for QSAC as a way of helping districts to perform well, said spokeswoman Terry Corallo.

Paterson has undergone four QSAC reviews under Evans’ tenure. He made a couple of recommendation for improving the process, Corallo said.

First of all, Evans suggested additional training be given to QSAC reviewers on what constitutes “valid or reliable evidence demonstrating that we are or are not meeting the standards,” Corallo said. “We have been told by one set of reviewers that we have met the standard and have been told by another set of reviewers that we have not – using the same data supplied.”

Secondly, Evans suggested the state provide its QSCA final reports in more timely fashion. Often, the district does not get that document for several months, officials said.

The Education Law Center’s suggestions were more aggressive than those made by Evans.

The group wants the state school takeover law changed so that an independent entity hired by the state would perform the evaluations of district under state control every six months. It called for a “clear and unambiguous” method of grading districts that would promptly restore local control. It also urged that the state change the way school boards operate in state-controlled district so that they performed the same functions as school boards do elsewhere with the proviso that the state-appointed superintendent would retain veto power.

Legislative hearing features discussion of state control of Paterson schools

PATERSON – A statewide advocacy group on Monday called for an overhaul of the system the New Jersey Education department uses to evaluate Paterson Public Schools and other three other urban districts under state control.

During a legislative hearing in Trenton, the Newark-based Education Law Center asserted that the Christie administration has tried to use the state-controlled districts to advance the governor’s agenda by increasing the number of charter schools, instituting merit pay, and closing and selling schools.

“Takeover was intended for the State to work cooperatively with districts to bring about improvements in basic operations, including personnel and governance,” said David Sciarra, the law center’s executive director.

“Our proposed amendments will restore this core mission and put an end to Governor Christie's improper use of State takeover to promote his own education agenda by maintaining control indefinitely,” Sciarra added. “After more than two decades in Jersey City and Paterson and almost 20 years in Newark, it’s time to put in place an expedited exit strategy."

The hearing comes as Paterson awaits the results from last month’s state review of the district, the most recent in the process known as QSAC, or the Quality Single Accountability System, the statewide system to evaluate all local school districts.

Local officials are hoping the district performed well enough for them to regain local control in at least some of the five areas evaluated by the state – governance, fiscal management, personnel, operations, and curriculum and instruction. Some previous state reviews initially produced scores that Paterson officials through would be high enough for limited local control, but the scores were lowered after they were reevaluated.

“We agree that the current system is flawed and lacks true oversight and accountability,” said Paterson Board of Education President Christopher Irving.

Rosie Grant, the head of the Paterson Education Fund advocacy group, said the QSAC process provided too much discretion to the State Commissioner of Education. “We’ve been under state control for all these years but there’s no clear process for us to get out of it,” she said.

The Newark and Paterson school boards had tried to challenge the state’s education department’s QSAC rulings in recent years. But an appellate court last year ruled in the state’s favor in the Newark lawsuit and the Paterson appeal was scrapped as well. Jersey City and Camden are the other cities where local schools are controlled by the state.

When asked about the law center’s proposal for changes in the system of state control, New Jersey Education Department spokeswoman Michael Yaple declined to discuss the group’s proposals for changing the law.

“There’s general consensus that the Department of Education has really improved and streamlined the QSAC school-monitoring process in recent years,” Yaple said. “For instance, we cut the number of indicators monitored by the state from 350 to 52. As the process evolves, we look forward to working with legislators as we explore other ways to improve the school-monitoring process.”

Paterson’s state-appointed schools superintendent, Donnie Evans, testified during the hearing. In speaking to the legislators, Evans expressed his support for QSAC as a way of helping districts to perform well, said spokeswoman Terry Corallo.

Paterson has undergone four QSAC reviews under Evans’ tenure. He made a couple of recommendation for improving the process, Corallo said.

First of all, Evans suggested additional training be given to QSAC reviewers on what constitutes “valid or reliable evidence demonstrating that we are or are not meeting the standards,” Corallo said. “We have been told by one set of reviewers that we have met the standard and have been told by another set of reviewers that we have not – using the same data supplied.”

Secondly, Evans suggested the state provide its QSCA final reports in more timely fashion. Often, the district does not get that document for several months, officials said.

The Education Law Center’s suggestions were more aggressive than those made by Evans.

The group wants the state school takeover law changed so that an independent entity hired by the state would perform the evaluations of district under state control every six months. It called for a “clear and unambiguous” method of grading districts that would promptly restore local control. It also urged that the state change the way school boards operate in state-controlled district so that they performed the same functions as school boards do elsewhere with the proviso that the state-appointed superintendent would retain veto power.